


Old Fashioned Christmas

by amarochstar



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: M/M, for beth, i don't know shane's dad's name, so i carefully avoid it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28333026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amarochstar/pseuds/amarochstar
Summary: Ryan is feeling down, maybe a good old fashioned christmas with Shane is just what the doctor ordered.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PrincessAtHeart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessAtHeart/gifts).



> this is a story that was written for the Privileged Secret Santa exchange. It unfortunately this got away from me and is still a work in progress. Posting the first chapter for her now.

Ryan was staring out the window, dull eyed, watching as the cars glinted past. He could overhear Shane talking with Steven about snowball fights and going sledding on Christmas morning. 

Yes, Ryan has seen snow. He’s trudged through it for shoots and gone skiing once or twice… but he’s never had a snow day. Plans were never put on hold to have a day of playing in the snow. And he’s never gotten to experience a “White Christmas”... it may get chilly in LA, but it is almost never COLD™ as the midwestern boys like to remind him. 

Everyone was talking about their plans for the holiday break coming up, almost everyone was visiting family in the colder climes… Ryan’s whole family would be in California. Right here in sunny LA. Ryan frowned, he wanted one of those Hallmark Christmas moments, but staying here in LA the closest he would get is his Aunt Jean kissing his cheek while she wore a mistletoe headband.

Ryan was startled out of his stupor when Shane waved a hand in front of his face. “Yo! You there Ry Guy?” 

Ryan shook his head to clear it, “Yeah. What’s up?”

“I was just asking you if you wanted to come back to Chicago with me for Christmas.”

“Why are you inviting me? Shouldn’t you be bringing Sara?”

“WOW,” Steven looked at Ryan flatly. “You weren’t paying any attention to what we were saying, were you?”

Ryan looked deeply confused and Shane took pity on him, “Sara and I split about 2 months ago. We didn’t really make a big deal out of it because we’re still friends, we just want different things.”

“Shit, I’m sorry man.” Ryan rubbed his hand over his face, how on earth had he missed that bit of news? “Yeah, I’d love to go somewhere that’s proper Christmasy for the holiday.”

Shane beamed at him, “Awesome! I can’t wait to show you around the city. We can go to Navy Pier… Oh! You have to kiss the bean!”

“Out of context that sounds really weird,” Steven mumbled as he headed back to his desk.

Shane just laughed and shrugged, “Weird and/or wonderful!”

~~~~~~~~

The day before Christmas Ryan met Shane at the airport for their flight. Ryan was a bit surprised to find that Shane had got them first class tickets. “Dude! This had to have been expensive! Let me pay you back.”

“Nah man, consider it a Christmas present. I didn’t really get you anything.”

“Okay, now I feel doubly bad as I didn’t get you anything either.”

“Nonsense! You’re coming to spend Christmas with my family instead of yours, I consider it the gift of your time,” Shane said with a warm smile, his eyes crinkling deeply, proving he truly believed what he was saying.

“If you say so,” Ryan said, shrugging the comment off.

Shane’s face dropped and he put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder, “I mean it. You are a wonderful person that I am lucky enough to call my friend. The fact that you decided to join me for my Christmas shenanigans means a lot.”

Ryan twitched a small smile, “Okay, thanks man.”

Shane ruffled his hair, “You’re welcome little buddy!” The flight attendant came over and Shane ordered them both a Hot Toddy. “Merry Christmas Ryan!” he said clinking his plastic mug against Ryan’s. 

“Merry Christmas Shane,” Ryan smiled to himself and sipped on the hot tea and liquor concoction. Shane watched as Ryan took a small sip and sighed, he was glad he decided to ask Ryan along for the holiday, even if he didn’t follow through with his plan. Ryan needed a break from the stress he put himself under. Maybe a good old-fashioned Christmas would cheer him right up.


	2. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let the Christmas Eve festivities begin!!

When their taxi pulled up in front of Shane’s parents’ house, Ryan was surprised to see it actually looked like it was a Christmas card. There was snow and icicles hanging from the roof, tastefully draped white lights in the trees and bushes, sharply outlining the roof, candles in every window, and a big bright green wreath with red and gold decorations hanging front and center on the door. “Wow,” Ryan breathed.

Shane smiled and leaned over Ryan to look out his window, “Yeah, my mom loves Christmas. And Sherry Madej is not a woman who does anything by halves.”

Ryan fought the urge to lean into Shane’s warmth. For all Shane’s ribbing about Ryan not knowing the cold, he never expected it to be /this/ cold. He was inside a car with the heater blasting and he still felt cold. “So? Are we going in?”

Shane turned to look at Ryan, his face close to Ryan’s, “Nah, I thought we’d make out in the car for a little bit.”

“Please don’t,” the taxi driver said.

Shane chuckled, “Don’t worry man, I’m just teasing my friend.” The taxi driver scoffed as Shane retreated to his side of the car to get out. Shane easily lifted both his and Ryan’s bags from the trunk as Ryan was staring, awe-struck, at the picturesque snow, pristine and white. Shane nudged Ryan to get him to walk up the path to the front door.

Ryan was taken aback when the door flew open and two children about 5 or 6 years old came barrelling out, rushing past him to wrap themselves around Shane’s legs. “Uncle Shaney!!!”

Shane took the tackle better than Ryan had expected, he only stumbled back a pace, still holding both of their bags as he looked down at the twins wrapped around his legs. “Hey guys! I’m excited to see you too, but can we save the tackling for inside? You’re not even wearing sweaters!” The two took off back into the house, leaving the door hanging open behind them. Shane chuckled and looked at Ryan, “Those two terrors would be my nephews, Tom and Troy.”

“They seem energetic.”

Shane laughed, “Oh yeah, wait until the nerf battle. You have never seen mayhem like those two can create.”

Ryan huffed a laugh of surprise, “Nerf battle? For real?”

“Yeah, started as something Scott and I would do as teenagers to try to hurt each other, morphed into a whole family event now that Scott has the bopsie twins.” Shane ushered Ryan into the overwarm foyer and set their bags on the low bench near a coat rack which was overladen with snow jackets and winter hats. Ryan quickly stripped his coat and gently closed the door behind him to keep that glorious warmth inside.

“Shane!!” Sherry Madej came around the corner and embraced her son with open arms, which looked like Shane was being tackled by yet another child. When Sherry made her way to Ryan, she also gave him a hug and Ryan realized she wasn’t that much shorter than he was. Shane was actual Giant™, confirmed. “And you are Ryan, we’ve heard so much about you and having watched the show, it feels like I know you, but I am Shane’s mom, Sherry. How was your flight? I was so thrilled when Shane said you were joining us for the holiday! I had been bugging him for years to bring you here so I could tell you my ghost story!”

A huge grin split Ryan’s face, “You have a ghost story?!”

“You bet your bottom I do!”

“And Shane thinks it was, what? The wind?”

“Oh, I’ve never told Shane. ...Well, maybe once when he was little, but he never really bought into the whole ‘supernatural’ thing. Although he does refer to liking a person’s energy every now and then… I think he may have secretly become a believer.”

At that last Shane finally snapped out of his stupor, he was so afraid when his mom mentioned bugging him to bring Ryan home she would let it slip that Shane had just come clean to them about why he and Sara split up that he kinda shut down, but at the insinuation that he actually believed in ghosts he found his voice again. “Mom. You know I would believe in ghosts if there was any proof. However, there are people who just give off bad vibes and I have never regretted avoiding those people.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Sherry said, turning to look at her son. “I was going to continue to razz you, but it’s almost time to put dinner in the oven.” She turned to eye Ryan, “You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”

“No, ma’am. I will eat any of the delicious meats that exist.”

“Good! You can come help us make lasagna!”

Ryan glanced at Shane as Sherry pulled him with her into the kitchen. “Every year for Christmas Eve we make lasagna for dinner, while that’s cooking we make the dough for cookies and let that chill while we have the nerf battle. The victor gets the largest piece of cheesecake for dessert after which we roll out and bake the cookies,” Shane explained. “We’ve been doing it for so long that it doesn’t feel like Christmas without lasagna and nerf guns.” 

Ryan smiled as Sherry guided him to a big bowl of ricotta and herbs, “Here, stir this up dear. I’ll get you a glass of wine.” She walked to the cabinet next to the fridge and set about pouring Ryan some prosecco while Shane immediately began the task of arranging noodles on the bottom of several pans.

“Shane! And Ryan!” A tall man, though slightly shorter than Shane, came over from where he was cooking some ground meat on the stove. He held out his hand to Ryan, “I’m Scott, I know he has told you stories about me. I’m kind of afraid of the ones he has told that didn’t make the final cuts.”

“Hi Scott, nice to finally meet you. ...Does the whole family watch our shows?” Ryan asked, expecting the answer to be no, even his own brother doesn’t watch all that often.

“You bet we do!” Mark said as he took the bowl from Ryan and began layering the lasagna. “Got to support our boy! And to think he was so shy when he was little!”

“Dad, I’m gonna stop you there,” Shane said as he tried to push Ryan out of the kitchen, a blush blooming across his cheeks. 

“I know my parents have seen a few episodes, but I don’t think my brother has ever watched anything,” Ryan commented looking at his shoes.

“I highly doubt that’s true. You boys do wonderful work!” Sherry gushed as her and Mark took turns adding layers to the lasagnas with the ease of years of practice.

“Thanks Mr. Madej,” Ryan said blushing.

“Mark, please! You are here for Christmas, you either call me ‘Mark’ or ‘Dad.’ I don’t want to feel like I’m at work on a holiday,” Mark said with a wink.

‘What does that mean?’ Ryan thought. “Sure, Mark.”

“Oooh, he can be taught!” Mark laughed and Sherry hit Mark’s hand with a spoon.

“Leave the poor boy alone Mark, you’ll scare him away,” Sherry admonished.

“And on that note, time to prepare for battle,” Shane said as he grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him back into the foyer. “Let’s get our bags upstairs and I can show you my arsenal.”

Ryan’s interest was piqued, “You have an arsenal?”

~~~~

“You have an arsenal,” Ryan said flatly as he looked at the various nerf guns lined up in front of him.

“Yep. I even have a tactical vest or two somewhere. You don’t want to get pinned behind a couch and run out of ammo.” Shane turned and picked up a big box, “And this baby is brand new, I’m excited to try her out.” He ripped the box open to reveal a bright green nerf gun with a chain belt dangling from it. “This is the Ripchain. I call her ‘Vera.’” Shane balanced the gun in his hands and held it out towards Ryan as he said this last with a shit eating grin on his face.

“Alright Mr. ‘Hero of Canton,’” Ryan laughed as he looked the gun over. “Is this one of those motorized nerf guns?”

Shane protectively pulled the gun to his chest, “NO! Those are not real nerf guns! They are abominations that are not allowed in this household.”

“I was just…”

“No! This is war Ryan. You need to work for every shot, work for every kill,” Shane stepped closer to Ryan. “We do not use motorized nerf guns. Those are for lazy cheaters. We also do not use those things that shoot balls or airsoft guns. This is a nerf battle. We use nerf darts. And if you’re too good to pull the hammer back every time, you do not deserve the cheesecake.”

Ryan couldn’t help it, he began to laugh, directly in Shane’s face which, when had Shane got so close?

Shane stood back up in shock, why was Ryan laughing at him?

“Dude, you get really intense about Nerf guns.”

Shane chuckled, “Yeah, I guess. I’ve been collecting them since I was like 6.” Shane laughed, “I actually have one of the most expensive guns. Hold on.” Shane walked over to his closet and pulled a box down from the top shelf and held it out to Ryan. “This is a mint condition N-Strike Longstrike. It goes for about $600 these days.”

Ryan’s jaw dropped. “$600 for a Nerf gun??”

Shane shrugged, “Some of the new common ones are around $100.” He put the box back on the top shelf. “That chain fed Vulcan would go for about $550, but I’ve used it every year since I got it, so the value has gone down.”

“What did you pay for it?” Ryan asked, genuinely curious.

“About $100? I think it was like $97 or something and then sales tax… Why do you ask?”

“Nothing, I just never realized there was a market for Nerf guns.”

“Ryan, there’s a market for everything. As a self-proclaimed ‘Sneakerhead’ you should know that.”

“Touche,” Ryan said as he took in the arsenal laid out before him. “So, I guess we need to gear up.”

“YES!” Shane proclaimed as he dumped a literal duffel bag of nerf darts onto the bed. “Time to load up little buddy!”


End file.
